Chapter 731: Chapter 731

"Alien races?" Li Pin frowned slightly. "That was quick. When will someone arrive?"

"How quickly they act depends on your status among these alien races," Sasha replied.

She did a quick calculation and said, "If I were one of them, given the level of threat you pose right now, I'd send a Heavenly Emperor to the Shattered Star Sea within a stellar year, and within another, locate you and execute the kill."

Li Pin was so flabbergasted by that response that question marks almost popped out above his head.

After a long pause, he repeated, "A Heavenly Emperor?"

"Yes, a Heavenly Emperor," confirmed Sasha. She patiently explained. "From what I know of you, and the potential you've shown, you're worth the attention of someone at that level. Even if it means risking exposure to Supremes or Highlords and being trapped in the Shattered Star Sea forever, they'd still make the move."

One Heavenly Emperor in exchange for me... Li Pin thought.

"Thank you," said Li Pin.

Sasha smiled faintly. "You're welcome."

She continued, "However, this is the kind of response I'd expect based on my understanding of you. Actually, based on my calculations, the aliens would need at least three years to send someone to infiltrate the Shattered Star Sea. They would likely be at the Solar Flare level. Once there, they would proceed cautiously. It would take them a full year to locate you and complete the assassination.

"If everything goes smoothly and they value you highly, the aliens could take anywhere from three to six years—or even up to ten—to infiltrate the Shattered Star Sea."

"I have a question," said Li Pin. "Why would both a Heavenly Emperor and a Solar Flare need the same amount of time, one year, to find me?"

Shasha answered, "That's because, based on your personality, I deduced that you wouldn't bother hiding your trail. In other words, whether it's a Heavenly Emperor or a Solar Flare, once they arrive in the Shattered Star Sea, it won't be difficult to gather information on your whereabouts. So, the timeline should stay within a year."

Li Pin thought about it for a moment and realized Shasha's reasoning made sense.

So... is this a flaw of mine?

After a while, Li Pin spoke again. "I just prefer doing things straightforwardly without too many tricks. But that doesn't mean others can use this against me."

He smiled. "You guessed wrong. I plan to suppress my energy and advance to the Solar Flare level. I won't be making my presence known or attracting people to come and bother me."

"Is that so?" Sasha said noncommittally.

She didn't argue but instead added, "News of your appearance in the Astral World has already spread. The Humanity Sanctum knows that you've reached the Astral God Realm. Are you planning to contact them for help?"

"Not yet." Li Pin glanced behind him. "The news spread too quickly. Someone must be stirring the pot behind the scenes."

Sasha offered a number. "The probability of the Heaven Ordainment Sect's King Great Luo of Wisdom taking advantage of the situation is over 91.84%."

"Got it," Li Pin responded.

He controlled the island body he had formed and refocused his attention on a piece of Astral World Fragment several thousand meters in diameter.

Advancing through the Starshine Astral God level was all about accumulating energy and control. Once he could amass 4 million units of energy and perfectly control it, converting it into combat power, he would have reached the pinnacle of the Starshine Realm.

It was simple and clear. Yet, this simple and clear threshold kept 99% of Astral Gods outside the door.

For many Astral Gods, achieving the Astral God level meant immortality.

At that point, they could choose to stop cultivating. As long as they avoided major catastrophes, they wouldn't face much danger and could easily prevent the Eternal Oblivion Force from crushing them.

The real danger lay with those Astral Gods who, unsatisfied with their current power, sought to progress further. A single misstep, and the Eternal Oblivion Force could take them down.

Many Solar Flare Astral Gods feared their chosen successors might cultivate too much. It would have been fine if they didn't. Just passing the days would keep them safe. But once they stopped being passive and pushed forward, the risk of death grew.

In a way, those stubborn Astral Gods who wouldn't give up, like those in the Heartless Island or the Shattered Star Sea, were gambling with their lives. But the Eternal Oblivion Force quietly eroded them, and many Astral Gods, confident in their own strength, didn't even realize it.

It was like how some people worked themselves to the bone for success. Even though there were countless news reports of people dying from overwork, they were certain it wouldn't happen to them and kept pushing on, night after night.

In the eyes of the others with more secure lives and better resources, these Astral Gods were just mud-legged peasants without the accumulated foundation built over countless generations.

For these "peasants" to surpass those with well-established backgrounds, they would have to risk their lives, endure countless hardships, and gamble everything on a future so uncertain it seemed almost nonexistent.

"4.89 million," Sasha reminded him softly. "You should be able to feel it now. The energy in both your original and True Body is getting harder to control. What you need to do next is to rationalize the structure of that energy intensity and reshape its internal form to elevate your energy level."

"Once the energy level breaks past Level 2... that's the Solar Flare Realm," Li Pin replied.

He continued, "But that step isn't difficult for me. Restructuring the internal framework is essentially just integrating and optimizing the Strong Force, Weak Force, Gravity, and Electromagnetism.

"For anyone who's cultivated the Primordial Supreme Technique to the second level, it's only a matter of time until they raise their energy level. But the stronger the energy you command, the greater your potential—wouldn't you agree?"

Sasha explained, "This is something only Solar Flare Astral Gods, who fear they can't advance further, need to worry about. It's like how Divine Beings who know they'll never become Astral Gods keep raising their energy levels, hoping to match an Astral God's avatar, or even their combat-specialized form.

"But you don't need to worry about that. With your cultivation level, you can rely entirely on your realm to overwhelm your opponents. No matter how much a Divine Being refines Astral World Fragments and boosts their energy, they will never defeat an Astral God's Divine Essence, or even a World-Anchor one.

She continued, "History has seen several instances where a Tier Six Legend provoked a Tier Nine Supreme Divine Being. In desperation, they ascended to become Astral Gods and, disregarding the risks of the Eternal Oblivion Force and their future, maxed out their energy levels.

"With the power of their Divine Essence, they destroyed the Supreme Divine Being. And the cost of nurturing such a supreme Divine Being was at least ten times higher than that of creating a newly ascended Astral God."

Li Pin gave a simple response, "Cultivation level reigns supreme."

The three Astral Gods he encountered when he first entered the Astral World had also relied on their Solar Flare-level cultivation to attempt a counterattack.

Even if the alien races did send powerful experts to target him, they could only rely on their energy intensity to try to crush him.

In that case, even if he stayed in the Starshine state and clashed with these Solar Flare-level aliens, what could he truly learn from them?

"Then let's break through," Li Pin said. "Let's see how long it'll take for my comprehension of the third level of the Primordial Supreme Technique to raise my energy level to 10."

"You're mistaken. Your Primordial Supreme Technique is already at the fourth level," Sasha said.

"You've followed me for quite a while now. Can't you tell that what I displayed back then was a facade?"

"A facade? I don't see it that way. The essence of your power has already reached the level of Supremes and Highlords. In some aspects, it's even more adaptable than theirs. Once the nature of your power meets the standard, does it really matter if the cultivation process was correct?"

Sasha smiled faintly. "Clearly, it doesn't."

Li Pin was taken aback.

Only now did he realize that neither Sasha nor the Black Abyss Highlord had been unaware that the fourth level of his Primordial Supreme Technique was achieved with external help.

As Sasha had said... his power had already reached that threshold. Did it really matter whether he had cultivated the fourth level or not?

At that thought, he chuckled. "I overthought it."

"It's me who didn't provide you with a clear enough hint," Sasha replied. "There's a good Astral World Fragment three days ahead. It might be a good place to start if you're looking to raise your energy level." New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on noⅴelfire.net

As Li Pin spoke, he looked toward the massive fragment.

The Astral World didn't have the concept of days, nights, months, or years. Time itself became a vague concept. Sometimes, time was distance, and distance was time. Time and space seemed to converge into a single integrated entity.

Li Pin relied almost entirely on Sasha's sense of time now.

He felt that only a short while had passed, but in truth, just closing in on that Astral World Fragment had already taken three days. And another three days passed as he captured the fragment and fused it into his original body.

"Restructure..." Li Pin examined the state of his original form. "Let's start by modeling it after a celestial core."

Sasha said, "If you're planning to refine your energy level around the concept of a celestial core, you could directly optimize based on stellar cores, neutron star cores, and dark matter particles. These correspond to 2x, 4x, and 8x energy multipliers, respectively."

She swiftly helped map out his cultivation route. "Of course, depending on your level of comprehension, the specific energy level might fluctuate.

"But the sheer burden will keep pushing you to raise your level of control. Once you can fully control the energy level of dark matter particles—meaning 5 million base energy with an 8x multiplier—your combat power will likely reach 40 million."

40 million combat power represented the pinnacle of the Solar Flare level.

While some secret arts or divine items could push one's combat power even higher, that only enhanced raw power, not cultivation realm. Whether it was 40 million or 99.99 million combat power, it was already equivalent to standing at the threshold of Cosmic Radiance.

"A stellar core, then."

As Li Pin spoke, part of the material inside his original form began to collapse and transform rapidly. Under the influence of the four fundamental forces, it abruptly formed a brilliant sphere of energy that shone with blinding radiance.

A surge of energy, far more powerful than before, constantly radiated from the light sphere, only to be instantly shielded and neutralized by the protective layer surrounding his original form, dispersing into nothingness.

Sasha paused for a few seconds before finally speaking. "Congratulations. You've attained the Solar Flare Realm."